In which we discuss the media's bizarre long-term silence on the disappearances from Toronto's gay village, the Rogers-Vice Canada fallout, and Toronto Star's problematic reporting on the Sherman deaths. With Justin Ling.

But what happens when these twisted narratives stop being just kooky, and start getting scary? As extremist right-wing groups grow their presence in Canada, and around the world, there's a personal cost to covering conspiracists.

"Connected to the anti-Islam sentiment is a sense of paranoia in the group, one that is reinforced by the sharing of debunked news stories and far-right wing commentary from sites like Rebel Media or Infowars. The members of the group, like their counterparts worldwide, are distrustful of mainstream news and often stray into extreme conspiratorial territory."

If you thought Bill C-51 was concerning, boy do we have an update for you!

Bill C-59 is the Liberal government’s national security reform bill, and it covers a lot of ground.

According to the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab’s report, the potential activities allowed by Bill C-59 are “limited only by imagination”: Mass dissemination of false information, leaking foreign documents in order to influence political and legal outcomes, large-scale denial of service attacks, interference with the electricity grid…

The report also warns that Bill C-59 contains a loophole which would allow the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) — the country’s spy agency focusing on electronic communications — to cause death or bodily harm, and to interfere with the “course of justice or democracy.” (*tugs collar* emoji)

This follow-up to Bill C-51, the Harper government’s controversial anti-terrorism Act, is making its way through parliamentary committees, but has yet to draw similar national attention or scrutiny.

But it’s not all bad. Bill C-59 also addresses institutional blindspots like lack of organizational oversight and accountability, and sheds some light onto the CSE's inner workings. Lex Gill, a researcher with Citizen Lab, says that only 3% of Canadians know what CSE is.

Gill, along with fellow researchers, outlines over 50 recommendations for amendments to Bill C-59. To learn more, see their 75-page report.

Lex Gill joins Jesse.

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This episode of CANADALAND is brought to you by our newest sponsor PayTM.

Joshua Boyle, former Taliban hostage, faces 15 charges including sexual assault and administering a noxious drug. What did media miss in its initial welcome-home coverage?

Mayor John Tory and Toronto city staffers cite 'miscommunication' as the reason homeless people were turned away from shelters across the city (which were definitely not at capacity, alright?).

The Quebec mosque shooting took place nearly a year ago. So how is Aymen Derbali— who was shot 7 times and left paralyzed when he attempted to stop the gunman — only just being acknowledged by Canadian media?